Utility companies have historically provided individual water consumption meters for individual utility service lines that include a gauge for water utility personnel to manually inspect. In such systems, water utility personnel periodically travel throughout the distribution network and manually inspect each water meter gauge to determine the amount of utility consumption since the previous reading. In large utility distribution networks, a greater number of water utility personnel are utilized for manual meter reading, thereby resulting in substantial lag times between the readings of an individual meter within a prescribed period of time.
More recently, the advent of wireless communication networks has enabled the reading of electronic water meters and the subsequent communication of consumption data. As a nonlimiting example, water distribution networks have retrofitted their various commercial and residential water meters to include wireless transmitters that wirelessly communicate consumption and other related data to water utility personnel who may travel on foot or by automobile within the transmission range of such devices. In this nonlimiting example, the water utility personnel can collect data more quickly and less intrusively, thereby speeding the data collection process and reducing the costs sustained by the water utility.
As another nonlimiting example, wireless transmitters coupled to the commercial and residential water meters may also be configured to wirelessly communicate consumption and other related data to other transmitting meters or repeaters such that the usage data is repeated or daisy-chained through a series of other electronic devices to a central office. This scheme completely obviates the need for water utility personnel to travel throughout the distribution network to read the meters. In this nonlimiting example, a wireless transmitter at a particular commercial residence may communicate the consumption information for that residence to another meter or repeating device that subsequently communicates information over a wide area network, such as the Internet, to the central office. Although the initial cost due to the electronics and installation costs may be greater for such devices, the long term application costs are typically substantially less than the costs associated with traveling water utility personnel, as described above.
Nevertheless, these later schemes which employ wireless transmitters to communication consumption and other related information, are also plagued by various problems. For example, most water meters are buried beneath the ground such that placement of a transmitter within the hole location of the water meter reduces the transmitting capability and range. With the reduced transmission range, it may be difficult in particular instances to place another transmitter or repeating device within broadcast range. Likewise, the reduced transmission range may make it difficult for water meter personnel to drive within the broadcast range of the meter when collecting consumption data.
Plus, installing such devices at ground level so that the transmitting portion of the meter transceiver is capable of transmitting subjects the device to environmental and other hazards. More specifically, such devices are vulnerable to rain, snow and ice, as well as other hazards like a lawnmower that may travel over the water meter's position. If the above-ground portion of such a meter configuration does not have a sufficiently low profile, it may be damaged when, as a nonlimiting example, a lawnmower travels over the meter's location such that the blade or other part of the lawnmower damages and even destroys the meter.
Other problems with wireless transmitters for water meters include the possibility of tampering with the device by the consumer, thereby resulting in the unauthorized access to and/or disablement of the meter. Since the transmitter portions of such devices are typically positioned with some degree of exposure, as described above, such devices may be susceptible to tampering by the consumer so as to cause the device not to transmit consumption information, thereby resulting in the consumer not being charged for the consumption of the water utility.
As an additional nonlimiting example, because such devices are typically battery operated, some residential consumers may attempt to open or gain access to the transmitters to remove the battery to disable transmitting functions. Removing the battery may not affect water flow through the meter itself, but may result in no transmission of consumption, which constitutes theft of water.
Therefore, a heretofore unaddressed need exists to address the aforementioned deficiencies and shortcomings described above.